Cafe Owners Attitudes Before The Enactment Of A Smoke-Free Legislation In Transition Countries

While a growing number of countries and sub-national localities are banning smoking in hospitality workplaces, extant research on the impacts of smoke-free legislation focused on hospitality employees and industries in developed countries. Hoping to assist in filling this void, this research empirically explores the relationships among café owners’/managers’ attitudes, demographics, and management-related variables before the introduction of a smoke-free legislation in one transition economy, i.e. Bosnia-Herzegovina. Results revealed that gender, education, length of hospitality work experience, experience living abroad, current position held, length of time in current position, and café seating allocation were for the most part not significant in explaining different perceptions toward a smoking ban. However, preferred café smoking policy and smoking status somewhat influenced how respondents viewed the smoking ban. Moreover, respondents’ preferred café smoking policy appears driven by their smoking status. Theoretical and managerial implications and opportunities for future research are further discussed.